A NEW hub has been established to keep communities safe with the help of multi-agency services such as Merseyside Police and Fire and Rescue service.

Safer Wirral Hub is based at the Solar Campus in Leasowe and is the first phase of a new multi-agency service which will deliver an effective community safety service for the borough.

Led by Merseyside Police, a number of Wirral Council teams, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and other key partner agencies – including the voluntary sector – have already delivered a 38% reduction in anti-social behaviour across Wirral.

Wirral Council’s Cabinet lead for Community Safety Cllr George Davies said: “Success in building safer neighbourhoods is beyond the ability of the police or the Council alone and requires this stronger partnership approach within and across all partner agencies and communities.

“We know that there was already good joined up working across partners to improve community safety.

"This development will build on this further due to the integration of council staff and staff from other organisations into policing operations and a new way of directing their work.

“I believe this is a hugely important step.

"It will help make Wirral safer, it will help tackle the issues our residents tell us are a problem and – even in times of cuts to funding – it is an imaginative and radical plan to deliver a better service to our residents.”

At the Hub operations are directed through daily briefings across all key agencies.

Intelligence and data is gathered for use in planning responses and operations.

Joined-up services will also operate in local police stations across Wirral tied into weekly briefings involving police officers, PCSOs, the Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Community Patrol Officers and the Fire Service.

The agreement to establish the Safer Wirral Hub and closer partnership working under the leadership of Merseyside Police was signed earlier this year and teams have already seen promising early results including a 38% reduction in anti-social behaviour across Wirral.

Police and emergency services time and resources have been saved by officers in the Hub working with frequent callers to direct resources better and tackle underlying issues which will prevent unnecessary calls to the emergency services.

It is estimated that the Safer Wirral Hub could save emergency services around £50,000 per year through this way of working.

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, Jane Kennedy, said: “It’s clear that this move to further increase collaboration and combine community safety services on the Wirral is already bringing benefits to people living in the area and is enabling our services to work more effectively and efficiently.

“In this era of austerity, no organisation can afford to work in isolation and this is a great example of how public and third sector agencies can work together to share knowledge, expertise and resources to make our communities safer.”